Muscle gain & Fat loss

I was at the gym today and overheard a PT telling his client that the human body can not gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. You either bulk up or bulk down. Is this true? Would someone elaborate of what you think he was trying to say? If this does make sense, then how does this work and how does one go about making this work for him?I am in the process of gaining some muscle for the purpose of losing body fat but now I am getting confused on how I should be going about doing this.Oh, and I would have asked the PT but the ones at my gym have this problem with giving away free advice, that and I couldn't get close enough to hear their conversation without it getting weird .

Lifting weights, eating right, and doing some cardio all at the same time will help you lose the fat and gain muscle mass.

It's just a matter of how much of each that will determine your level of muscularity. If you don't eat enough, you won't grow. If you do too much cardio, you'll burn away fat but your muscle gains will be slow. If you lift too much and ignore cardio, then you'll be bloated and bulky.

There's no generic cookie cutter routine that works for everyone. You need to try different exercises, techniques, routines, diets, etc.. and figure out what works best for you. You probably won't know until you've been lifting seriously for at least a year.

Spread the word! You don't have to bulk up and cut down to achieve your ideal body.

i've worked with top trainer for over 20yrs.....interval training in great for muscle gains and fat loss...always do your cardio....always lift...switch it up often, eat small high quality meals ever 3-4 hrs or at least eat 3 small meals and a couple snacks...high in protein complex carbs and some good fats...from fish or nuts or grains

Depending on your current body composition and diet routine you can gain muscle and loose fat at the same time. If you aim at having a balance in your workout routine of lifting, aerobic, and anaerobic workouts you should be able to be a more fit person and look better too.

having a more balanced routine may mean that you don't gain weight as quickly as those who are just trying to bulk, but in the long run its more healthy to be able to not only lift weights but to run and do intense workouts too.

if you gain a little fat in bulking up it's not a big deal cuz it will shed pretty easily.. your new muscle tissue allows u to burn more calories so just taking some calories outtaur diet will drop ur bulk pounds

I lift heavy and do some cardio and eat A LOT and sometimes bad for me but I have not gotten fat. In fact, my waist is becoming a little smaller (meaning I'm loosing the love handles ) I notice less fat there and more muscle in my arms and chest

MikeAlva saidI was at the gym today and overheard a PT telling his client that the human body can not gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. You either bulk up or bulk down. Is this true? Would someone elaborate of what you think he was trying to say? If this does make sense, then how does this work and how does one go about making this work for him?I am in the process of gaining some muscle for the purpose of losing body fat but now I am getting confused on how I should be going about doing this.Oh, and I would have asked the PT but the ones at my gym have this problem with giving away free advice, that and I couldn't get close enough to hear their conversation without it getting weird .

I stayed lean and still packed on muscle this year. The key for me was eating like a horse, training smart and doing lots of cardio. Bottom line, it is all a lot of hard work and discipline.

MikeAlva saidI was at the gym today and overheard a PT telling his client that the human body can not gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. You either bulk up or bulk down. Is this true? Would someone elaborate of what you think he was trying to say? If this does make sense, then how does this work and how does one go about making this work for him?I am in the process of gaining some muscle for the purpose of losing body fat but now I am getting confused on how I should be going about doing this.Oh, and I would have asked the PT but the ones at my gym have this problem with giving away free advice, that and I couldn't get close enough to hear their conversation without it getting weird .

From what I've seen over the years, experienced myself over the years, and read about that's not true. I seen just the opposite a number of times.

With flex89 / Logan here on Real Jock, we took him from 135 to 205 in about 6 months, while lowering his fat about 4%. I.e., he gained roughly 82 pounds of LBM (Lean Body Mass) in that time. Now, he was very light at his height, and got to be more like his father who looks like a lumberjack. Of course, we couldn't now take him to 250 pounds. He's where he should be in terms of normal weight and so on.

I myself, have done it several times.

Your body has setpoints. You can get stuck at a particular set point over lack of stimulation, recovery, calories, or rest. Conditions generally have to change to move your setpoint up or down.

Contrary to what some folks think, starvation and leanness are not the same. In order to sustain high levels of activity to get lean, you need to bring your calories UP. Fasting, low-kcal, low-carb, diets moderate your metabolism and make you lose muscle, and gain fat, as you train your body to slow down and become a fat-storing machine.

When I compete, I bring my calories way up to around 4800 to have the calories to do what I need to do to get and stay lean. If I'm trying to move my setpoint up, I'll stuff myself. Right now, my set point is hovering around 210 without much work. To get it up another 20 pounds, I'd need to start eating hard. I've had it at 230 pounds, but don't leave it there for long.

Lots of folks change their body composition, getting leaner, while gaining weight. E.g., military guys in boot camp; college athletes at training tables.

If you do HIIT, you build your anaerobic, as well as aerobic threshold, while not compromsing much muscle (in fact, you could gain some through the legs, or whatever the HIIT activity stimulates).

Steady-state, long-duration, cardio is a sure-fire way to compromise LBM, and not have the increases in cardiac threshold that HIIT provides.

The trainer has no clue what he is talking about.

I have routinely worked with Sagi Kalev and Jesse Leyva, two of the top trainers in the country, and have trophies of my own.

I have switched things around a lot with my body and diet. I eat well and work out good. I do not over do it. This tends to cause injury and fatigue.

What I do is:

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I bust my ass ( working out with jogging, hiking, yoga, and free weights and resistance weight (my own body weight).

On Saturday, I lean my diet up (with not a lot of heavy exercise) and then on Sunday, I eat it up and rest up and then the same on Monday, however I begging to taper off on my food. I had like 2 so called "free days" remember from the body for life deal?...then back on my T,W,T,F training all the time eating slightly leaner foods and less fat. Make sense?

I gain GOOD muscle and lean muscle. I continue my supplementation program and I continue to maintain my ripped body with out any chemical steroids.

I just do not think you need any artificial or chemically induced steroids like your always pushing. I believe you can get them naturally, with out the impact or harm they cause.

So I am wondering who is more educated on the topic?

I mean, I see an image....a pic say's a 1000 words!

lol

I know for a fact that you can take supplements that naturally increase your body's own testosterone with out chemical additives. I also know you can find supplements that can maintain higher libido and testosterone along with suppression of estrogen in the male body. I think one should not be forced to think or believe that the needle and or rub on chemical creams are the only way to boost a man's testosterone level.

I am pro alternative healing (holistic or natural) and not pro medical alternative chemical or artificial.

Sounds like a lot of people have opinions about this. I got my information from the Men's Health Book of Muscle. It basically confirms what the trainer was saying. I don't think it is impossible to lose SOME fat while you are training for muscle gains, but you will probably have an easier time of it if you concentrate on one at a time.

Logically, I would build muscle first, bulk up and gain the muscle you want to add, then switch it out for a low calorie diet, with lots of cardio and minimal strength training. You may indeed lose SOME muscle this way, but you will also lose fat fast after building so much lean muscle mass. Once you are at your leanest, you can always return to the bulking up plan.

I was a dolt and began going lean first, and now think I should switch gears and begin a serious body building regime and increase my caloric intake. I got pretty slim, but have a couple of small, stubborn areas below my navel and in the 'love-handle' area. I think if I build enough muscle now, then return to the fat loss regime, I should be able to lose those last couple of pounds.

It's a myth, be careful of the information gym trainers impart. Many of them are under qualified, and what they wind up being is glorified sales representatives for the gym with very little knowledge of the human body. You can gain muscle and cut fat and do all the cardio you want as long as you eat appropriately for your activity level before and after your workouts.

Bullshit. I lost over 55lbs and gained muscle mass and definition over a period of about 6-8 months. Every month I saw more weight loss and more muscle developing simultaneously.

I cut carbs a lot and increased protein and made other diet changes. I did minimal cardio. I think excessive cardio will make you loose muscle. Adding muscle increases your fat burning ability because muscles need to burn calories to function.

The worst thing you can do is not eat well, because your body will eat the muscle for fuel and your blood sugar/insulin will get weird.

It depends on your current fitness level. If you are just starting, you can lose fat and gain muscle easily with a good weight and cardio routine.

For more advanced level guys, it is more difficult to bulk and lose bodyfat at the same time unless you are seeking to do it slowly and moderately. If you already have a low BF percentage or high LBM, it is very difficult to reduce BF and bulk at the same time.

MikeAlva saidI was at the gym today and overheard a PT telling his client that the human body can not gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. You either bulk up or bulk down. Is this true? Would someone elaborate of what you think he was trying to say? If this does make sense, then how does this work and how does one go about making this work for him?I am in the process of gaining some muscle for the purpose of losing body fat but now I am getting confused on how I should be going about doing this.Oh, and I would have asked the PT but the ones at my gym have this problem with giving away free advice, that and I couldn't get close enough to hear their conversation without it getting weird .

I used to think this wasn't true until I did it. My trainer has me on a program of JUST weights (no cardio) and 3000 calories a day, six meals a day, specific food at specific times. It's tedious, but it's worked.

I went from 145lbs and 15% body fat now to 148lbs and 12% body fat in a little over a month. That's up 8 pounds lean and down 4 pounds fat.

I think it's because muscle burns more energy than fat, so the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, and you start to burn into that fat. Again, this is without doing cardio too. I can imagine when I get back to the cardio phase that I'll drop a lot of fat pretty quick. At least I hope so, cuz I've never had a six pack, even when I was 7% body fat, and I would like to have one for once in my life.